


Fragile

by nnywrites



Category: Original Work, The Network (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Nightmare, Robot/Human Relationships, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, autistic main character, stuffed animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nnywrites/pseuds/nnywrites
Summary: Kane’s nightmares keep getting worse and worse...
Relationships: Original Male Character/Van Gogh
Kudos: 6





	Fragile

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older fic I’m importing here from one of my old accounts, so if it’s familiar, that’s where you’ve seen it before 😊 I miss writing for Kane, I should write a new one for him sometime, he’s my favorite OC. Anyway, enjoy!

The blue haired boy tossed and turned in his bed, disrupting the slumber of the bot sleeping next to him. Given that he was a man-made machine, Van didn't technically sleep - he charged overnight by going into "sleep mode". But even the tiniest movement in the bed the bot and the boy shared would wake him.

The tossing and turning wasn't anything new; Van knew Kane experienced night terrors regularly. There wasn't a lot that could be done about them. Kane had been going to therapy for years and was prescribed numerous medications to try and help him with his symptoms, but hardly anything seemed to help much. But Kane did start a new medication recently, and both he and Van hoped it would help, even just a little. 

Normally, Van would just cuddle up to Kane and try and fall back asleep after being woken up by his movements, but upon further inspection, something wasn't right.

For one, Kane was covered in sweat when the room was nowhere near warm. Secondly, Van started to notice the sounds his boyfriend was making - he was whining, whimpering and murmuring slurred, quiet nonsense. At least, it sounded like nonsense to Van. 

_Maybe I should wake him..._ Van thought. _I've never seen him like this before. Is it his medication? It it making it worse?_ While he was wondering what was causing this strange behavior in his partner, Kane jerked and seemed to flinch in his sleep. 

"No..." Kane managed out and tensed up his body. "No..! Pl... Plea...se... No... Not... A...gain... Nooo!" His voice became louder and more desperate with each plea. He was sweating profusely, he had curled up into fetal position and was incredibly tense. 

Van knew he had to wake him up now. He reached over and gently place a hand on Kane's shoulder and gently shook it. 

"Kane... Kane..!" Van whispered as he gently shook his boyfriend's shoulder, "C'mon... Please, wake up... You're having a bad dream. Babe, wake up!" 

Kane's eyes shot open as he gasped for air and sat up in the bed. He panted and looked around the room. Everything looked like it was exactly the same as it was when he fell asleep... So it was just a dream, he decided. He looked over to see his robot boyfriend, Van, sitting up in the bed and looking very concerned. 

"Kane..." Van began, "Are you alright? You were having a really bad dream, buddy..." 

Kane tried to find the words to speak, but all he could muster up was a pathetic little whimper. As much as he wanted to speak, he couldn't. He just couldn't - not while he was like this. It felt like his brain and body physically would not let him speak.

"Babe..?" Van asked as he had noticed his boyfriend's silence. Then realization struck. "Oh, baby... Are you having trouble speaking again?" He asked. Kane experienced bouts of muteness from time to time. This seemed to happen mostly when he was scared or really upset, and it seemed like he was both of those at the moment.

Kane nodded and saw his vision begin to blur with tears. He wished his brain would just shut off completely while he slept; but no, it had to keep making him relive the same damn things over and over again. They were supposed to protect him. They were supposed to love him. But all they did was hurt him and made him feel small, worthless, ugly, weak... The list could go on and on with how they made him feel his whole childhood.

Kane looked away from Van and tried to pull himself together. _Get ahold of yourself..._ He thought. _Why can't you just get over it?! You're such a baby! Don't burden your boyfriend like this!_

"Honey..." Van reached his hand out again and gently held Kane's face, making him look at Van. "It's alright... It's okay to be scared. I know you can't help it. You don't have to speak, it's okay..."

Kane's heart was pounding out of his chest and he began trembling. He placed his hand on top of Van's as he stared longingly at his partner. 

"Come here, baby..." Van said softly. Without a second more of hesitation, Kane leaned in and wrapped his arms around Van and buried his face into his chest and wept freely. There were times where Van wished he wasn't so sentient, and with the heartache he felt seeing his boyfriend in so much emotional pain, this was one of those times. He too wrapped his arms around Kane and gently ran his hand up and down the boy's back.

"Shhhhh..." Van shushed the frail, sobbing man currently cradled in his arms. He started rocking slowly back and forth while keeping Kane in his embrace. He knew Kane loved rocking - it was one of his many stims, so he figured it would help. "It's okay, sweetie. I've got you now. I won't ever let anything or anyone hurt you..." 

Saying this, Van thought about how Kane was always protective over him in any other circumstance. He always did everything he could to try and keep Van's programming from being tampered with, or just trying to protect him from harm in general. Van was fragile in some aspects - just like Kane was. 

The blue haired boy sniffled and clung to the robot tightly and desperately. He was so thankful for his understanding, loving boyfriend. He loved him dearly. He loved everything about him; he was attractive, sure, but that was just the surface of it. Kane felt like he had a genuine connection with Van. Van seemed to understand him and his feelings, even when Kane wasn't sure if he understood it himself. Van never got mad or impatient with him, he never criticized his intelligence or called him "slow", he never teased him for his stimming habits... He was everything Kane ever needed and wanted. Someone who understood him and loved him despite his afflictions. 

After a few minutes of rocking and soothing whispers, Kane stopped trembling and his sobs quieted down to mere ocassional sniffles. The thoughts that plagued his mind weren't entirely gone, but he wasn't as scared or upset anymore. 

"There we go..." Van said as he looked down at his boyfriend. "All better?" He asked. "You don't have to speak if you don't want to, just nod yes or no."

Kane nodded meekly and cuddled against his partner. This made the bot smile a little as he placed a hand on the back of Kane's head and ran his fingers through his soft blue hair. 

"That's good," Van said. "I'm so happy that you feel better, even if it's just a little bit. Tomorrow, we need to talk to your therapist about your medication because it’s clearly making this worse on you. Okay?” Kane nodded. “Okay. We’ll call up there tomorrow afternoon sometime. Do you think you can fall back asleep?" He asked. He looked at the time on Kane's digital clock: it was half past 3 in the morning exactly. Kane thought for a moment before shaking his head. 

"Can't sleep just yet, huh? How about... Hey, you wanna watch a movie?" Van suggested. "Just until you feel comfy enough to fall asleep again. We can watch whatever you want and cuddle the whole time." Kane perked up at the mention of this, making Van chuckle a bit. "You like the sound of that, don't you?" He asked, and Kane nodded. "Okay then. I'll go get the TV set up, and while I'm doing that, you go and pick out a movie to watch. Whichever one you want, okay?" 

Kane nodded and crawled out of bed, Van following after as they each went in their own direction to do their task. Van got the TV and DVD player set up and ready, and soon Kane returned over to him with a DVD case clutched in both hands. 

"What'd you pick out, babe?" Van asked. Kane handed Van the DVD case, rocking on his heels. "Hmm... Big Hero 6. How did I not guess that?" 

Van chuckled. Kane smiled and blushed a little. Van knew him so well. "You like seeing all those cool bots and inventions, huh?" Van asked as he placed the DVD into the player and pressed play. Kane nodded as he sat down on the couch with one of his many stuffed animals. "Yeah, they are pretty neat." Van sat next to Kane, looking down at the stuffed animal. "You brought a guest! That's... Minty, right?" He asked. The stuffed animal in question was a little, fluffy mint green llama. 

Kane nodded and smiled, happy and surprised that Van even remembered Minty's name. Kane had so many stuffed animals in their bedroom that even he lost track of their names on ocassion! 

"I was right?" Van said and smiled back, "Sweet! I'm getting better at it then." Van laid a blanket across him and Kane's bodies while they snuggled closely to each other and watched the Disney film for the hundredth time. 

During the beginning bot battle scene, Van noticed that Kane was already looking pretty sleepy. His eyelids were close to being shut and he just had a relaxed, calm look on his face as he hugged Minty close and snuggled against his boyfriend. Van smiled at this and continued to watch the movie, and surely enough by the time the scene with Aunt Cass taking Hiro and Tadashi home played, Kane was out cold. He still had the llama plushy clutched tightly against him and he was curled up against Van. 

Van smiled and placed an arm around Kane and gently rubbed his back. _How cute..._ Van thought. He contemplated turning the movie off, but he figured that that probably wouldn't be a good idea. Not right now, at least, not after Kane had just fallen asleep. He decided to leave it running for now. 

After a while, Van started to feel pretty tired as well. He could feel the need to enter sleep mode worsen as he could barely keep his eyes open. Just as he started to close them, he felt Kane rustle gently in his sleep. _Oh no, not again..._ Van thought. _Please, he just calmed down..._ But what happened wasn't what Van expected.

"Mm... Mmmlovyoo..." Kane murmured softly in his sleep. He looked calm and snuggled with Minty against the bot's body. He didn't appear to be in distress at all. Van felt a sleepy half smile creep up his face as he leaned in and kissed the top of his boyfriend's head.

"I love you too..." Van whispered and cuddled with the blue haired boy. "Good night, love." And not much soon after, the robot went into sleep mode.


End file.
